Better future is Aleut woman's goal.

CALGARY

Nina Kiiyakina will do whatever it takes -- reach back into her Aboriginal past or reach out towards the future -- for the sake of her people.

The Aleut woman from the Commander Islands off the coast of Russia is on a mission -- to revitalize the island's failing economy and breathe life back into a beleaguered people.

Only four years ago, Kiiyakina began to teach herself traditional Aleut basketweaving. As director of the Aleutsk Regional Study Museum in Nikolskoye on Bering Island in the Commander Islands, Kiiyakina has a strong commitment to her culture.

But in the last couple of years, that focus has shifted. Now the Aleut woman is working to protect her people's future, not just their past.

In the last two years, after the break up of the Soviet Union, the Commander Islands were left orphaned.

Ships no longer regularly visit the islands, located off the northeastern Russian peninsula of Kamchatka. Food and medical supplies are in short supply. Local utilities and sanitation services need repair.

The population dropped from about 1,500 people to 750, as Russian residents return to their mainland homes. But the 200 local Aleuts have no mainland home to where they can retreat.

"We cannot move," said Kiiyakina.

Together with the Amiq Institute of the Bering Sea, Kiiyakina and a group of local Aleuts, are attempting to revive local economy and culture.

"We are ready to make a program, and to ask the people of Canada, America and Germany -- and charitable organizations -- for help," Kiiyakina explains.

Institute founders, photographer Suzanne Swibold and journalist Helen Corbett are recognized internationally as experts on the Bering Sea and its people. They first visited the Commander Islands two years ago and never left.

"We can make the (Commander Islands) a model of conservation," said Swibold, referring to proposed new "microeconomies," such as kelp harvesting, local crafts and fishing.

"What we are trying to do is find a team of people to get help for the islands," said Corbett.

A botanist, marine biologist, lawyer, energy expert, and nutritionist, for instance, would be valuable consultants in converting the islands' economy.

"We need a boat -- two boats." Once transportation is restored, the islands' economy has a chance.

The plans are bold. But in the last 15 years, the Amiq Institute has raised $1.5 million in support of the Aleuts of Proibolif Islands, off Alaska.

"We can make together a program about how we can help," said Kiiyakina. Since March, she has visited southern Alberta museums, such as the Glenbow in Calgary and Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump near Fort Macleod, exchanging information about Native cultures.

In late June, Kiiyakina visited the Smithsonian Institute in Washington on a 10-day Native American scholarship. Swibold and Corbett will accompany her to raise funds for the Commander Islands.